Mountain caribou celebrated last week as a judge banned snowmobiles
from a nearly 470-square-mile caribou recovery zone in the Idaho
Panhandle National Forests. The ban will hold unless the U.S. Forest
Service can develop a winter recreation strategy that would enable
noisy, polluting vehicles and the last mountain caribou herd in the
Lower 48 states to coexist harmoniously, ruled U.S. District Judge
Robert H. Whaley. There are about three dozen of the caribou left in
the area, with what Whaley called a "precarious finger-hold" on
survival (although hoof-hold, we think, would have been more apt).
Snowmobile interests blamed logging, backcountry skiing, and climate
change for the shrinking herd; conservationists presented evidence that
snowmobile noise frightens caribou from feeding and calving grounds,
and argued that vehicle trails compact snow, leaving the caribou
without deep-snow protection from predators. "The court chooses to be
overprotective rather than under-protective," Whaley wrote in his
ruling.
straight to the source: The Seattle Times, Associated Press, 26 Sep 2006
Judge Sides With Caribou, Bans Snowmobiles From Some Idaho National Forests
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Tender Loving Caribou
Judge sides with caribou, bans snowmobiles from some Idaho national forests
Grist Magazine Summary, Sept 27, 2006
Straight to the Source